2013-14 Division I Women’s Basketball Player of the Week – No. 9

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ryven Jackson of Talladega (Ala.) has been named the NAIA National Division I Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, the national office announced Tuesday. Jackson was selected based on her performances from Feb. 24-March 2 and was chosen out of a pool of conference and independent award winners.

Jackson, a native of Little Rock, Ark., concluded the regular season with back-to-back triple-doubles. Against Fisk (Tenn.) on Feb. 24, the senior forward scored 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting. She also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out 10 assists in the Tornadoes’ 88-62 victory. On March 1 against Edward Waters (Fla.), Jackson scored 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while also recording 10 rebounds and 10 assists, to lead the Tornadoes to a 103-80 win. Jackson’s triple-doubles were two of just 11 to be recorded in NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball regular-season play, while the two final-week victories helped Talladega (10-1) to clinch the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season title over Xavier (La.) (10-2). For the week, Jackson shot .543 from the field (19-of-35), while averaging 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10 assists.

On the year, Jackson has scored in double-digits in 20 of Talladega’s 27 contests. She does not lead the team in any statistical category, but does rank among the top four Tornadoes in every key metric: points (2nd, 356), rebounds (2nd, 230), assists (3rd, 73), steals (3rd, 38) and blocks (4th, 5). Jackson does lead the nation in triple-doubles (2) and also ranks among the top 50 in total rebounds (32nd, 230), total rebounds per game (37th, 8.52), defensive rebounds per game (39th, 5.48), offensive rebounds per game (48th, 3.04) and field goal percentage (49th, .446).